At 6-feet-7, East senior center Tommie Banks presents unique challenges for his opponents. The coaching staff at East have just been trying to remind Banks of that fact.

Banks played his best game of the season, finishing with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks, to lead the top-seeded Orientals to a 77-53 win over No. 4 Pittsford Mendon in the Section V Class A1 boys basketball semifinals at the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester Community War Memorial.

"From what I did, my size created a lot of problems for them," said the soft-spoken Banks. "I was just doing what I needed to do to help my team win."

While Banks was modest about his efforts, others were eager and quick to extol his efforts.

"Tommie was phenomenal," said East senior guard Dontay Caruthers. "This was his best game all year. I am glad he proved to me that he could show up in big games."

"Tommie was the biggest guy out there and he finished like a man inside," added East coach Darrell Barley. "He did a good job changing shots and he rebounded well."

The Orientals (15-4) advanced to face sixth-seeded Edison (10-10) at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the championship game back at the Blue Cross Arena. East defeated Edison twice during the regular season.

East scored the first nine points of the game. The Vikings (10-10) got to within 9-3 on a 3-pointer from Nick Baglieri later in the first, but they never got any closer as the combination of Banks in the middle and East's fullcourt pressure defense stymied them. The Orientals made 61 percent from the field in the second half.

"I don't think their pressure was as much of a problem for us as Tommie Banks was in the middle," said Mendon coach Greg Bischoping said. "He had a bunch of blocks and when you don't have a lot of size that can get you in a lot of trouble. He really changed the game."

Nick Keneally scored 13 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers in the second quarter, for Mendon.

"I love the way that Dontay shared the ball," Barley said of the fourth-year varsity player. "Back when he was a sophomore, he would look to shoot first. Whereas now, he's getting his teammates involved and encouraging them to take those shots."

Caruthers said he feels more ownership for this team.

"This feels great, because it's actually mine now," Caruthers said. "This is my team. Instead of being on somebody else's team, some of those seniors, this is my team. It's nice. I love these guys and I just want to go all the way to states with them."